Customer Engagement

This website is your opportunity to find out what CW Hydro’s plans are for major investments into our system, and how we prioritize through a Distribution System Plan.

Have your say by providing your input and completing the online survey today!

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Win $100 off your Hydro bill

By completing and submitting the survey, you are eligible to win one of three, $100 credits applied to your hydro invoice. Please fill in your email address OR phone number that will ONLY be used to contact you if you are drawn for one of the three $100 credit prizes.

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Centre Wellington Hydro Customer Engagement Survey for Distribution System Planning and Cost of Service Application

This survey is for Centre Wellington Hydro (CWH) electric customers and is not relevant to customers who receive a water and/or sewer only bill from CWH.

General:

Phone:

Will ONLY be used to contact you if you are drawn for one of the three $100 credit prizes.

Email:

Will ONLY be used to contact you if you are drawn for one of the three $100 credit prizes.

My Service Area is:

Fergus

Elora

I am a:

Residential customer

Commercial customer

CWH’s capital investment plans are supported by a Distribution System Plan (DSP) that explains the need for our capital investments.

Have you reviewed CWH’s Customer Engagement webpage that describes our DSP preparation?

Yes

Satisfaction:

How satisfied are you with the overall service you receive from CWH?

Is there anything specific CWH could do to improve our service?

Power Outages:

How many power outages have you experienced in the last 12 months?

Did you contact CWH about the outage?

Yes

Are you aware that CWH has an “outage” and “report a problem” map on our website at www.cwhydro.ca?

Yes

How many power outages do you feel are acceptable in a 12-month period?

Effectiveness during an Outage:

During an outage, how would you rate our effectiveness?

Responding to the power outage:

Effective	Ineffective	Undecided	Not applicable	Haven’t had an outage

Posting information on the website/Twitter:

Effective	Ineffective	Undecided	Not applicable	Haven’t had an outage

Providing an estimated time for power restoration:

Effective	Ineffective	Undecided	Not applicable	Haven’t had an outage

Providing reason for the outage:

Effective	Ineffective	Undecided	Not applicable	Haven’t had an outage

Responding to questions:

Effective	Ineffective	Undecided	Not applicable	Haven’t had an outage

Capital Investment Plan:

CWH will have spent $1.09 Million annually on Capital Investments in our current DSP timeframe from 2017 to 2022. CWH is proposing an annual Capital Investment Budget of $1.26 Million for the next 5-year (2023 to 2027) DSP.

A large portion of our Capital Investment Budget is directed to the replacement of poles in poor and very poor condition, station transformer replacements, and large truck replacements.

Do you agree with an investment plan that replaces assets prior to failure in the field?

When replacing Fleet vehicles, which of the following statements do you most agree with?

Replace vehicles without additional cost for more efficient options.

Replace vehicles with lower emission solutions such as all electric or hybrids with additional cost.

CWH customers experience outages for reasons such as loss of supply from our transmitter (Hydro One), adverse weather, planned outages so CWH can proactively improve our system, and defective equipment. The table below shows the last 5 years statistics for outage causes.

Some power outages can be avoided by replacing aging equipment before it becomes defective and fails. This is called a proactive replacement strategy, and CWH has accounted for this within the draft DSP and investment projections.

Based on the above information, please select the statement you most agree with.

Proactive replacement to maintain current reliability.

Run to failure even if more outages result and reliability goes down.

CWH’s Reliability is excellent compared to Ontario’s industry average. Our customers have fewer outages, and our responsiveness keeps outage duration to a minimum.

Our approach to the next 5-year DSP plan is to maintain the current excellent reliability and complete similar projects with minimal rate increases, which are mainly due to inflation and increased material costs.

Which of the following investment approaches align with your expectations?

Accelerated investment plan with increased rates, above inflation and material cost escalation, to improve reliability even more.

Continue with the current approach of maintaining the Distribution System with current levels of reliability and minimal increases to rates to cover inflation and material cost escalation.

Reduced investment plan with reduced rates that would negatively affect the Distribution System and reliability.

Another reason for CWH’s positive reliability and customer service is our Distribution maintenance program which falls under the Operations, Maintenance & Administration (OM&A) budget. CWH’s maintenance programs include tree trimming, transformer inspections and repair, Station inspections, and pole testing to name a few.

The projected total Operations & Maintenance spend for 2022 is approximately $822,000. Through the Distribution System Planning process the expected OM&A budget will increase by approximately 3% annually. This will allow us to continue running the current operations and maintenance programs that help us keep outages to a minimum, poles, transformers, and other equipment safe for workers and the public, as well as a continued high level of customer service.

Do you agree with CWH’s Operations & Maintenance investment plan that would maintain the distribution system equipment and support customers at current day standards and reliability?

Which of the following approaches align with your expectations?

Electronic Billing:

Producing paper bills each month comes with a considerable cost in postage, paper, supplies and equipment. If we switched all of our customers to electronic billing, where you received your bill via e-mail each month, certain costs would be eliminated.

Would you support us implementing ONLY electronic billing if it resulted in monthly savings on your electricity bill?

Electronic billing: (No explanation)

Grid Modernization:

The electricity industry is evolving. Smart devices for homes and business such as internet connected thermostats and switches, renewable solar generation, and battery backup power supplies are examples of new technologies. Electric vehicles are becoming more common and connecting them on a large scale to the electric grid will need to be done with load control and 2-way flow capabilities. CWH will need to adapt to these technologies and customer expectations.

How important is it to you that CWH invests in infrastructure that will accommodate new technologies?

Final Comments:

Are you confident that your local hydro company, Centre Wellington Hydro, will continue to make responsible decisions about the future of electricity infrastructure and capital investment in your community?

Yes

Do you have any other comments about CWH you wish to share?